All-Around Snow Fun:Hotaka Bokujo

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The ski park Hotaka Bokujo (as the name already suggests) is located on Mount Hotaka. It is Katashina’s only resort that offers cross-country skiing. There are 2 circuits one of 3km and one of 5km, which are both located at an altitude of 1500m.

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It is also a great area to do snowshoeing, click on the image below to read about my experience of snowshoeing at Hotaka Bokujo.

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There are 5 chair lifts and 11 different slopes, which are also divided into beginners (green), intermediate (red) and advanced (black). Hotaka Bokujo offers a mixed amount of slopes for each level welcoming all snowboarders and skiers. I even tried my first go on a snowboard here!

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Click on the map to lead you to Hotaka Bokujo’s official website

Most of the people on the slopes seem to be snowboarders. This may be due to the rap music that is played all over the ski resort, the fact that snowboarding is getting more and more popular or Hotaka Bokujo’s terrain park. The terrain park includes several features such as a box, spine hip and canyon jump and invites snowboarders, freeskiers/newschool skiers to apply their tricks and jumps – always fun to watch!

The steepest piste at Hotaka Bokujo is 1000m long and has a maximum slope of 30° (averaged 20°). The longest piste has a length of 3,000m.

Fees for Day Pass (given in Japanese Yen [¥])

Adults

>55 years

<12
1 Day Pass 4,500 2,800 2,300
Morning (until 13:00) or Evening (from 12:00) pass 3,000 2,600 2,000

You can get a ¥100 discount with your ticket for the onsen at Hanasaku-no-yu where you can relax your tired body and warm up again.

You can also rent everything you need for the ultimate ski or snowboard fun at the ski resort.

Rental prices for skiing equipment given in Japanese Yen (¥)

Full Snowboard Set (board and boots)

2,500

Full Ski Set (skis, boots and poles)

2,500

Jacket and trousers

2,500

Boot

1,000

Snowshoes and poles

1,000

Complete Snowshoe Set (boots, snowshoes & poles)

1,500

Complete Cross-country Set (boots, cross-country skis & poles)

2,500

If you are interested in learning or improving skiing/snowboarding technqiues the same organizations as in Marunuma Kogen, Oze-Iwakura and Oguna run ski and snowboard lessons here at Hotaka Bokujo.
Ski School (SAJ: 0278-58-4092) Snowboard School (JSBA: 0278-58-2928)

Group Lesson:

Group Lesson:

2 hours

4 hours

2 hours

4 hours
¥3,000 ¥5,000 ¥4,000 ¥6,000

Private Lesson

Private Lesson

2 hours

4 hours

2 hours

4 hours
¥17,000 ¥25,000 ¥8,000 ¥15,000

To warm up from the cold there are 2 restaurants at the ski park serving typical Japanese ski food ranging from curry, rice bowls, udon to ramen. Exactly what you need to fuel up for the next trips down the slopes.

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Read about what you can do here in summer: hiking up Mt Hotaka.

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